Klarinet Archive - Posting 000878.txt from 1999/12

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: [kl] Staccato (was, Tschaikovsky No. 6, 1st clarinet - Responses)
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 12:50:55 -0500

On Sun, 26 Dec 1999 00:33:19 EST, klahall@-----.com said:

> > but didn't understand this bit. You meant surely:

> > > Then i practice slow motion *staccato*; half speed or quarter
> > > tempo

> [snip]

> > Of course, playing slow motion legato would also be a helpful
> > preliminary, but I don't think you meant that.
>
> Actually i do mean legato. The legato emphasizes gentle tongue motion
> and constant air stream, and makes tongue/finger coordination clear.

So, just to be clear: you were talking about a legato involving the
tongue, then. (That's a use of the word 'legato' that I'd need spelled
out here.)

So then, when you do that slowly, the tongue moves gently, and is
precise. You'd written before (quote level adjusted to conform with the
above):

> > > Then i practice slow motion legato; half speed or quarter tempo,
> > > then immediately play at/near tempo. many passages sound good
> > > with this because at faster tempo the interruptions are in
> > > proportion longer and sound more staccato.

...so the idea is that the tongue does the same sort of action, and
therefore in fact stays on the reed longer in proportion.

Is that right?

> This also works well for most of my students, especially the ones who
> sledgehammer tongue, and a couple who "diaphragm" tongue. I do
> practice slow motion staccato also, but much more of legato slow

..in the 'using the tongue' sense, above...

> for staccato fast.

> > It's sometimes quite difficult to get people to modulate the degree
> > of staccato in a natural way.
>
> At least the string players have different types of bow strokes with
> different names.

I think *we* need different names for staccato, too. I wrote, in
http://www.sneezy.org/Databases/Logs/1999/09/000395.txt as follows, in
part:

> I want to hear a staccato that makes it clear to me why it is being
> used. There is brilliant staccato; and also staccato to make notes
> light, staccato to make notes heavy, staccato to make audible, bubbly
> staccato, 'travelling' staccato and many more. I could have said
> virtuoso staccato instead of brilliant staccato and not been
> misunderstood, but this is a detestable use of the word 'virtuoso'.
> True virtuosity consists of the ability to make a piece sound
> necessary in its own terms, so that the response of the public might
> well be to say, "What wonderful music!" more than, "What a wonderful
> player!" Thus staccato should always be studied relative to a musical
> context.

...and we need more detailed examination of how we might do that.

A metaphor I use to establish that the proportion of note to silence may
be variable is a rather silly one, to do with fairy princesses.

The idea of the metaphor is that the staccato-cycle:

silence/note/beginning-of-next-silence

is represented by 24 hours in the life of a two fairy princesses.

They're fairy princesses because, as we know, a fairy princess rests
very lightly on her bed. In fact, she's so sensitive that according to
one fairytale, she can feel a dried pea under a dozen matresses.

In the metaphor, the proportion of time the princess is asleep in bed
corresponds to the proportion of time the tongue rests on the reed --
gently, you notice.

One fairy princess gets up late, and goes to bed early, while the other
gets up early and goes to bed late.

(There can be lots of acting-out for younger students.)

The life of one princess corresponds to short staccato, while the life
of the other princess corresponds to lightly interrupted legato.

But the point is that there is no difference in the lightness with which
the two princesses rest on the bed. A sequence of abrupt, short
staccato notes has just the same tongue action as a 'legato staccato' --
which is what I take it you were talking about above, Ann.

This is quite counterintuitive, I think. Short staccato sounds as
though it corresponds to violent tongue action.

So the metaphor is sometimes useful.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

... I'm not cheap, but I am on special this week

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